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Flatiron Lunch: Madison Square Eats back for another month of good eating

Every Friday our man UltraClay goes south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

Madison Square Eats is back with it’s third month-long stint in Worth Square and I’m pretty excited about it. How could I not be? More that 20 new food stands pop up for a month offering dozens of new dishes to try out. There’s pizza and pretzels and pig face sandwiches, there’s a little something for everyone. Follow the jump for highlights from this season’s market.

The list for the fall market has nice mix of familiar names and new ones. Once again, I aimed for booths with food I didn’t try before, so, if you want to find out about Ilili’s Lebanese kafta wraps, Momofuku’s compost cookies or Bar Suzette’s savory crepes, check out my Madison Square Eats post from the spring.

The Milk Truck, a regular at the Brooklyn Flea, is selling fancy grilled cheeses sandwiches. I didn’t try it here, but I’ve had it before and, though quite good, seems crazily priced at nearly $6 for a basic sandwich.

I have no idea why I never manage to eat at Almond. This is the third time now I’ve ogled their delicious looking sandwiches and I still haven’t gotten around to trying them.

I mean, look at these things! I’ve got three more weeks, so I’m definitely going to give them a try before it’s all over.

Sigmund is another booth I haven’t managed to try yet. They’ve got stacks of tasty looking pretzel varieties along with hot dogs on pretzel buns.

The Cannibal, the butcher, beer bar and sandwich shop from the folks at Resto have inherited Resto’s stand and a couple of the dishes that they served this spring. The pig face sandwich and the selection of beers on tap are both reasons I’ll be back to investigate further one evening.

The Fatty Snack booth is different this year than the Fatty Crew stand a year ago. This time around, there aren’t any tacos and they’ve only got a couple items on the menu.

For $3 each or $5 for two, they are selling pork or veggie buns along with $3 sides of potato salad or black eyed pea salad. The ‘special’ of two buns, a salad and a drink saves you a buck, but I skipped it so I could leave room to try something else.

Pork buns for $3 seemed a little pricey to me at first, but when I got these two pillowy buns overflowing with salty sweet pork and tangy pickles, I thought again. They were twice as filling as any taco and totally worth the price, especially at two for $5.

I had lunch at the market with a friend who has some vegetarian tendencies. In the spring, I dismissed the Hong Kong Cart booth with not a little bit of scorn for slinging fake meat. This was my chance to get a closer look.

He ordered a vegetarian chicken skewer, glazed in peanut sauce. Honestly, it didn’t look bad and he liked it a lot, but I think I’ll stick with the meat-based meat dishes for now.

Along those lines, I also tried the Graffiti burger, from the Graffiti/Mahtaphor booth. The burger is probably about Shake Shack sized, but totally different in flavor. The meat is heavily seasoned with garlic and herbs and ends up tasting like a kefta in patty form more than and a typical burger.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the dessert selections on hand, which seems even more varied this time around. Luncher favorite, Robicelli’s is here for the first time selling cupcakes and snacks. Check the Robicelli’s Tumblr for updates on which flavors will be available. Our own Blondie has been helping out at the booth, so don’t be surprised if you see a familiar face.

Right across from Robicelli’s is Cuzin’s Duzins, selling freshly fried mini doughnuts. They’ve got a shop in Brooklyn’s newish Dekalb Market and I’ve been a fan since they opened. Sold by the dozen, they remind me of the little hostess doughnuts I used to eat as a kid. These are served up hot and sprinkled with powdered sugar or your choice of a few other toppings.

There’s a plenty more going on at the market and I’m getting hungry just looking back at all I’ve had. If you haven’t been yet, you’ve got until October 21st to check it out.

the prices are a bit insane. i think the best place for value is probably the indian spot next to the hong kong cart. it’s good that it isnt around often to justify the extra cost of things, like “oh well, its here and convenient, i guess its okay to spend a little more this time”